As we begin our work this term I want you to think about how our interactions can be looked at from a lens of "Intent versus Impact". You may say something that you intended to mean one thing, yet to the person who heard it there was a very different impact.
Many interactions can get stuck with the first person insisting their intent is more important than how it impacted the other, yet I want us to do it differently. If you read the article on Racial Microagressions or look on youtube or a search engine for that term and/or for "Dr Derald Wing Sue" you will see one perspective on how intent versus impact plays out in dominant culture and dominant-target interactions.
Communication skills are something that can always be improved or expanded, especially in a setting like this where we are coming from a number of different places and backgrounds. So, I hope you can do the readings, the work, the interacting and the learning in that spirit. We have an amazing opportunity to really hear each other if we choose to, so please take your part in this endeavor seriously.
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